Traditional Chinese Music - Essay Example

Chinese Music Chinese music forms one of the critical pillars of the people’s culture. Archeological evidence highlights that music has been a central aspect of Chinese culture even in the developmental stages. Culture denotes an integrated system of behavior, belief, and knowledge that depends on the potential for people to learn and transmit these sets of beliefs and knowledge to the next generation. Music is one aspect of Chinese culture that ensures continuity of these aspects into the future. The centrality of music in China extends to the societal cosmology. For ease of analysis, Chinese music falls into two broad categories namely traditional and modern Chinese music. This paper will discuss these categories and highlight the role of music plays in the Chinese society. Traditional Chinese Music In the historical context, Chinese music is one of the primal streams that have been present in the society for the longest time (Van 4). From the historical context, music has been one of the cultural aspects that have presented a serious and pleasurable opportunity for self-expression. The available information relates that the Chinese culture has existed solidly for over five years, a period through which music has remained a core pillar of the culture. Archeological evidence highlights that the Neolithic man living in china had a form of music because of the presence of musical instruments among other archeological artifacts. There are four distinct musical activities in the Chinese society. These included music for accompaniment, entertainment, ritualistic music, and music classes. Music for accompaniment accompanied dances such as lion, yingge, dragon, and chaozhou. In ancient china dynasties, people viewed music as the natural law and a moral force. Most of the time, those with musical talent strived to match their singing with the tunes produced in nature by birds and other objects. The Zhou dynasty also regarded music highly and Confucianism existing during that period had a set of songs that it taught (5). However, the living principles of the Zhou dynasty did not support some of the music that was seemingly subversive to the moral principles that Confucianism taught. In Chinese tradition, music was one of the four foundational aspects of the society. Such regard for music compelled each feudal state to establish a set of music styles that defined its people. For the Zhou dynasty, it established a musical model for the succeeding dynasties because it had established court music. The model encompassed ritual and ceremonial music, musical education system, varying musical styles and music offices within the court. The prevailing political conditions divided the dynasty into different competing dynasties that emphasized the role of music in the society. The Qin and Han dynasty had both court music and ritual music performed in courts. During the reign of these kingdoms, music expanded immensely. The different dynasties sought to incorporate certain musical aspects into the traditional Chinese music. This factor served to enrich the Chinese music through the integration of new musical aspects. Moreover, the prevailing Chinese music in the Han dynasty spread to the southern region of China (12). A new range of musical instruments emerged during the reign of the different kingdoms. The emerging music after integration with new musical aspects from non-indigenous sources exhibited new tonal variations. After the reunion of the Chinese society forming the Sui Dynasty, other changes emerged to define the court music system. This dynasty appreciated diversity and foreign musicians had the permission to perform and offer musical instruction. The music industry was becoming highly influential and exerting impact on the young people through the new employment openings. The most critical benchmark of music was the successful launching of the first music academy during the Sui dynasty. The role of this academy was to open up a training forum for the young to enhance their musical careers. In the academy, most of the songs were convert6ed from the famous poems in the Chinese society. The banquet music that had prevailed in the Chinese society earlier in the Zhou dynasty had persisted despite the splitting of kingdoms. The banquet music was a representation of the aristocracy defining the Chinese society. The people titled the banquet music as Yanyue. Despite its critical representation of the Chinese aristocracy, the ceremonial and ritualistic music had surpassed the banquet music (13). It is only in the Sui and Tang dynasty when the banquet music regained its position in the society. The Tang dynasty incorporated foreign musical styles leading to the formation of the divisions of music that would define the emerging genre. However, these seven divisions had the alternating sitting and standing music performed at different occasions. Both of these had different repertories that consisted of a varied number of musicians and dancers. Over time, the yanyue slowly faded with the emergence of new music genres. In the succeeding decades, formal education gave Chinese music a different turn. It altered the ways in which teaching music occurred because of the availability of books. Apparently, the historical context of Chinese music highlights that it is critical to analyze its value in the society when considering the Chinese civilization. Traditional music placed emphasis on the inflection of each note. The common notes were five-tone, the heptatonic, which the Chinese music emphasized. Moreover, there is a wide variation of the beat, rhythm and tone quality, and other embellishments in traditional Chinese music making it unique (48). These variations serve to separate Chinese music from the music emanating from the west. The inherent variations in Chinese music are the result of different styles employed in playing musical instruments. In the traditional setting, harmony and auditory effects resulted from the varied combination of musical instruments. Modern Chinese Music Contrary to the unique traditional music in china, modern music appears different in many aspects. It exhibits multiple similarities to the western music with different categories (8). However, Chinese artists have preserved some of the renowned instruments from the traditional setting and incorporated them into modern music. Combining traditional instruments with the modern range of musical accompaniments has given Chinese artists the capacity to produce a euphonious set of rhythms and sounds. These rhythms and sounds have fostered the uniqueness of Chinese modern music making it stand out when compared to western music (17). The emerging Chinese society has time to attend concerts staged by upcoming artists who are exploring the genres of the west. Moreover, the fact that Chinese artists use the Chinese language in their exploration of the emerging western genres presents Chinese modern music with a high level of authenticity. In the Chinese society, music should play the role of ensuring societal cohesion and enhancing the existing societal stability. Classification of Modern Chinese Music One of the music categories that have gained popularity in the Chinese society is classical music. This category consists of numerous genres such as orchestral music. Orchestral music has its subcategories such as symphony, concerto, ballet, chamber and overture. The distinction between these subgenres depends on the number of movements and type of instrument used. Jazz music that originated with African Americans forms an additional category of music. Under this category came many other subgenres with the jazzy tunes as modified by both the whites and blacks. One of the sentimental subgenre of jazz music is the blues category. Despite the initial resistance of rock and roll music in the Chinese society, this category has grown to include subcategories such as hard rock, and heavy metal rocks. The emergence of a new category called the popular music had great impact in the globe, including china. Rhythm and Blues (R &B) forms another category of music that is popular in the Chinese society. Other categories include reggae, raga, hip-hop, country, soul, techno, trance, and rap. However, with the increasing global connectivity, fusion of genres is becoming rampant. The possibility of fusion and increased creativity and technology has brought about a new realm of a vast range of music categories. Although China has maintained a conservative attitude in embracing modern musical genres, there are artists representing each of these genres (56). As described above, music is a central pillar of the Chinese society. Therefore, the Chinese government has defined the role that music should play in promoting social, economical and political stability. Therefore, there are stringent policies that surround the en try of foreign music into China. This limits the level of interaction of Chinese artists with the external music world. This places these artists at a disadvantage over their counterparts in who have the freedom to interact and share musical ideas. Chinese artists are isolated musicians to some extend; a factor that explains why there is increased conservative attitude among many Chinese artists. Although a disadvantage in some way, this isolation has fostered authenticity in different artists (87). Although modern Chinese music is diverse, and has all the western genres represented, there is a distinctive difference in the subjects handled by Chinese artists. It is illegal for Chinese artists to produce politically inciting music, and this has compelled many Chinese artists to refrain from producing music with political messages. There are severe punishments to artists who use music to convey political messages, and many artists are not willing to risk their musical career. Moreover, it is illegal to produce music with erotic messages. The government lives up to its commitment to protect society negative media influence. Therefore, musicians have to be extremely cautious in the choice of subjects of their music. The same commitment of protecting society from harmful media influence motivated the government to prohibit the sale of certain foreign albums in the Chinese territory. Conclusion The Chinese society has a strongly established culture, and music forms one pillar of their culture. Archeological evidence reveals that music has been a central factor in the Chinese culture because of the presence of musical instrument among other archeological evidence. The centrality of music in China extends to its cosmology. Traditional music has prevailed for over 5000 years in the Chinese society. On the other hand, modern music appears different in many aspects. It exhibits multiple similarities to the western music with different categories. However, Chinese artists have preserved some of the renowned instruments from the traditional setting and incorporated them into modern music. Work Cited Van, Aalst J. A. Chinese Music. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2012. Print. Read More